FV-61 | Reducing Reputational Damage of Fake News

Prof. Dr. Miguel Brendl, Dr. Ozgun Atasoy

Marketing

Research topicFake news is a hugely important phenomenon that has the potential to destroy businesses and public figures, even posing a threat to democracy. Recent fake news about companies include Pepsi selling HIV-infected soda, Starbucks offering free coffee to illegal immigrants, and the owner of the food chain Chick-fil-A stating “We don’t like the Blacks either” (examples from snopes.com, a fact checking com-pany). Social media and new technologies are likely to exacerbate the problem. For instance, technology that shows people in realistic videos making speeches they did not make may soon become widely accessible (BBC News 2017)